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Claudia Schempp, olfactory expert, is responsible for ensuring that all new cars from Mercedes-Benz smell perfect when you first get into them.

From the plastics used to the fabrics, leather and wood, not to mention varnishes, waxes, textiles and rubber - the olfactory experts from Mercedes-Benz pass judgement on every material to be used in the interior of a new vehicle. For - just as is the case when we're in love - it is our sense of smell that gives us our sense of well-being and comfort. At Mercedes-Benz, Claudia Schempp is part of the so-called "nose team" in Production and Materials Engineering. For 25 years now she has been analysing the smell of every material and component used in vehicle interiors.

Her measurement instrument is her own nose - an instrument the 47-year-old can rely on. "I have an aptitude, but it's no natural talent," laughs the qualified chemical technician.

Every person can distinguish between up to 10,000 different smells. "The problem is that we find it difficult to label them accurately, and therefore do not consciously register them. Because I smell every material many times over, I know exactly what its scent is," explains the expert.

She is able to recognise a material by its smell, even different types of plastic. Polyurethane, for example, smells different to polypropylene.

Smells are pure emotions.

The first moment of getting into a vehicle is a decisive moment. In these first few seconds our sensory impressions dictate to us whether we feel at ease, whether something is disturbing us - and whether the vehicle feels right. Even before we have begun to register the materials through our sense of touch or the exclusive vehicle interior details have begun to work on us visually, we have already garnered an impression of the vehicle through our sense of smell. Smells go straight from the nose to the brain and directly evoke emotions. That has been scientifically proved. "If a smell disturbs us, all other positive sensory impressions - even those suggesting exclusivity - will not be really registered. We feel uneasy," says Claudia Schempp. For this reason we have the rule: smell forms the basis of the hierarchy of comfort.

Awarding points by sniffing.

A smell test became an important step in Mercedes-Benz vehicle production in 1992 and has been continuously developed ever since. Every material to be used in a new vehicle is separated from the other materials and heated in conventional bottling jars up to 80 degrees Celsius. This equates to the temperatures that can be reached in a car standing in the blazing sun. After a short cooling-off period, the olfactory experts have a smell of the jars and rate the smells using the school grading system. Everything with an average grade of one to three is classed as acceptable and passes the test. "The smell of the material in question may then not change. The supplier is not permitted to change the materials composition or manufacturing process," explains the smell testing expert. Materials with a grade of three and above fail the text and need to be worked on by the supplier.

Exclusivity for all the senses.

Before the vehicle goes into series production, the "nose team" from Mercedes-Benz sits in the assembled vehicle to test the effect of the combined materials. "With the overall test we are making sure, on the one hand, that smells that were unobtrusive on their own do not produce an unpleasant smell in combination with others.

And on the other, we are checking that no single smell dominates the others, which would be disturbing," explains Claudia Schempp. The only smell that is OK to be consciously registered in a Mercedes-Benz is that of leather.

Sit back and relax

In the olfactometrical test, the interior of the assembled car is heated up with rays of heat, so that the smells of the processed materials can unfurl and combine inside the closed passenger compartment. The experts take a sample from the air inside the vehicle which is fed into an olfactometer, a special device for measuring smells. The sample is diluted with pure air, which has no smell, throughout the test cycle - at first with large amounts, thereafter with ever-decreasing amounts - and is smelt by the experts. "With this method of testing, we can measure at what point and to what extent the smell in the interior is registered," explains Schempp. Mercedes-Benz models cannot be made completely free of smell or made to smell all the same, as the interior appointments and materials composition are different in every model.

The job of Claudia Schempp and her colleagues is to meet the demanding challenge of creating as neutral a vehicle smell as possible. "Climb in and feel good - from the very first breath. That's what we're aiming to give our customers"